Ossining Concert To Benefit Sandy Victims

Ossining band Sundad play Monday night at the "Rock 'n' Roll Relief Concert" at Ossining High School. All of the donations from the concert will go toward victims of Hurricane Sandy.Photo Credit: Nathan Bruttell

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OSSINING, N.Y. – Dee Osborn had trouble fighting back tears Monday night while thinking about how she watch on TV from the warmth of her Ossining home as Hurricane Sandy wiped away her daughter’s home and the area she grew up in Ocean County.

While her family survived the wrath of the storm, Osborn said the helpless feeling she had would not go away. That is, until she approached Ossining’s Ray Arrucci about producing a benefit concert in Ossining. The idea eventually turned into Monday night’s “Rock ‘N’ Roll Relief Concert” at Ossining High School. The night featured several local bands and musicians including KJ Denhert, Road To Run, Undercover, Dead Weight Burden and Sundad. More than 100 residents turned out for the benefit concert, which is set to go toward several organizations in Staten Island, the Jersey Shore and Manhattan to provide essential supplies for victims of Hurricane Sandy.

“People here in Ossining and myself included were inconvenienced by Sandy,” Osborn said Monday night. “But for them and many in that area, their land is gone and they have nothing now. Just thinking about it makes me sad enough to cry.”

The Ossining Rotary Club is set to distribute 100 percent of the donations at a later date to Staten Island rotary clubs, schools and non-profit organizations. Rotarian George Camp acknowledged that certain Ossining waterfront businesses, like the Ossining Boat House, were flooded during the storm. But Camp said it was important to get the money to places that were hit harder than Ossining.

“We know it’s their livelihood that they’ve lost,” Camp said. “But if you lost your business or you lost your home – the big difference is where do I sleep tonight? If there was more destruction locally, then we would be doing as much as we could here. But the loss of power or the loss of your business or your car is really not much compared to the loss of a home.”

Organizing the concert for five bands was difficult, said Arrucci, adding that he never questioned doing it for a moment.

“This was such an undertaking getting five bands set up in three hours,” he said. “But in the end, it was more than worth it. With the money we’re raising and knowing it’s going to help people in need, it’s worth it.”